Give and Take
by AllusionToAnIllusion
Summary: Friendship is founded upon the principle of give and take. She's taken, now it's her time to give.


**In the spirit of Christmas I'm giving out little presents to those who want them. If you want to you can PM with the plot of a one-shot or drabble you'd like to see written and I'll write it. I've been wanting to say thank you to all of my wonderful readers and the only thing I'm decent at is writing so I'm going to give you stories. So if you want one and have even the most basic of plots, or even just a picture in your head of a scene, don't even hesitate for a moment to message me. I'll do my best to write whatever you dream up. **

**This is my first of these presents and I'm so glad someone suggested this. Give and Take has been left under the tree for Tycho77. I hope you like it, Teresa!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, just borrow.**

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She breathed in the jasmine air as she walked over to her bathtub ready for a night of relaxation and alone time. Despite that she may have been a workaholic, though she wasn't going to admit it, she was always grateful for a night of pure rest. Even she, super cop extraordinaire, needed them. She stuck one toe into the warm water, sighing softly as the warmth spread throughout her entire body. She untied the robe and let it fall to the ground; she'd get it later. Closing her eyes she memorized the serenity of it all; the jasmine scent dancing throughout the air, the warmth of the water, and most importantly the calm silence of her empty apartment. Living in New York City it wasn't often that it was quiet but she loved when a calm quiet descended upon the city.

_Ring, ring, ring, ring. _The screeching of her phone, calling out to her much too loudly and disrupting her entire moment, broke the trance. She considered ignoring it, she really did, but couldn't bring herself to not even check who it was. It might've been work with another body in need of justice hidden somewhere in the midst of these skyscrapers and hurried people. But when she checked the glowing screen on the front of the offending device it wasn't a body, it was something much worse, Castle. Okay, so he wasn't that bad. Whether she let him know it or not, she liked him. Maybe a little bit more than she was supposed to, but she wasn't even ready to acknowledge that yet.

"Castle? What is it?" She opted to get straight to the point, throwing her normal greeting out the window.

"Is Alexis with you?" His voice was frantic, desperate and pleading mixed with a tinge of relief. But she didn't dwell on that for long before his question finally registered in her head, making her voice just as frantic as his.

"No, what happened? Castle, is she okay?" Her eyes widened in fear and confusion, wondering what exactly was wrong in the Castle household. He didn't answer for a little while though she could hear him breathing shallowly on the line.

"Castle, what's wrong?" She asked, softly this time because frankly she was afraid to startle him.

"We umm…we fought." He responded, the desperation still there but shoved into the background by a certain amount of dejectedness.

"And then?" That wasn't the entire story, he was holding back. It was a little unnerving to realize that she could tell he wasn't telling her the whole truth even when she couldn't see him, couldn't his read facial expression.

"She stormed out. It's been hours and I don't know where she is, Kate. She's alone out in New York City and it's my fault. My baby girl is all alone." His voice quivered, getting stuck as he finished his sentence.

"I'm coming over." She didn't think before saying it and even after she heard his noise of surprise and protest she still didn't stop to think about it. He needed her and that was enough. Well, maybe he didn't need her specifically but he needed someone. But if she was honest with herself, she really wanted to be that someone. So she sprinted into her room, quickly put on a suitable outfit, and was out the door in five minutes flat.

"Alexis?" He threw open the door, almost pulling it off of it's hinges before he saw that it was her and he deflated just a little bit, not completely but enough for her to understand that he was in full worried father mode. It broke and warmed her heart at the same time.

"Hey, Castle." She said it almost shyly as she stepped into the loft, hanging her coat in the closet as she had done so many times before.

"Sorry," he met her eyes for the first time since she'd arrived, "I thought you were her. She left so quickly that she forgot her keys so I was just hoping…" He trailed off as he wandered into the living room, sitting on the couch and looking as if his entire world had gone up in flames. But his entire world was all up in flames, Alexis was his world and she was just gone. She walked over to him and stood in front of his body for a few minutes, studying him as he studied the floor.

"Come on," she motioned for him to get up, "we're going to call every person Alexis might've gone to. We'll split it half and half." He shot up immediately, making a beeline for the kitchen where she assumed his phone was. She followed him quickly, right on his heels as he all but dived for his cell. It was almost a role reversal, her closely following him as he walked with such purpose and drive that she wasn't sure she'd seen from him before.

"I already called mother and she said she hadn't seen her since this morning," he was starting to make a list, "so we can check her off. So you can take Ashley, Paige, Lacey, Hannah and all the rest of her friends while I check in with family friends." He finished writing on the piece of paper, now a list of about twelve people and what she assumed to be their phone numbers, and handed it to her.

"What about Gina?" She asked as she took the paper, scanning the names he had on his list as well.

"Alexis wouldn't go to her." They left it at that. Wordlessly, she walked into the living room and dialed the first number, waiting impatiently for Paige to pick up.

"I got her, Castle!" Seconds later he was by her side, staring at the phone like it was his only hope of survival. It had only been ten minutes since they'd started calling and he had already finished with his half of the list.

"Where?" So much emotion wrapped up into one word. Relief, desperation, guilt, sadness and joy were all there mixed into an odd tone she wasn't sure she had ever heard come from his mouth before.

"She showed up at Ashley's door a while ago and she begged him not to call you. She's going to stay there for the night since it's so late. It's okay Castle, relax, she's safe." She put a hand on his arm, rubbing soothingly as he sank onto the couch beside her.

"I know she's safe and trust me, I couldn't be happier, but I can't just relax. She could have been hurt! Dear god, she could have been kidnapped or murdered. Look at the cases we solve everyday, too many people die because they're alone in this city at night. And if anything had happened to her it would've been my fault, I would have caused it." He was staring at the wall now, a far away look in his eyes. She was sure he was replaying every moment leading up to her storming out in his mind trying to think of something he could've done differently. And then his frown deepened and she knew he was drudging up memories of various cases, running through the scenarios and replacing the victim with a beautiful red-haired teenager.

"Hey," she soothed, forcing his gaze back to hers, "it's not your fault, Castle. Every father and daughter fight, it's in the rulebook. No matter how special your relationship with her is or how amazing of a kid Alexis may be you guys are still going to fight." The hand on his forearm migrated to his shoulder, resting comfortably there.

"Not like that. We've never fought like that. We were both screaming, yelling things we didn't mean at each other and suddenly there were tears in her eyes and she just turned around and left, the slam of the door the only sound in the apartment as I realized what the hell was happening. But I couldn't stop her; she was already gone by the time I got to the door. And it was just so stupid; nothing is worth feeling the fear and desperation I just did. So yeah, it would've been my fault if something had happened to my baby. I drove her out of here; I started the argument. I don't know what I would've done if…" He stopped talking, unable to finish the thought that was obviously plaguing him. There were tears in his eyes, threatening to spill over with every word he spoke.

"It wouldn't have been your fault, it would've been the bastard that did something to her. But Castle, nothing happened to her. She's healthy and she's completely okay. Alexis is safe, so stop dredging up the images I know you're seeing right now. She's safe, Castle, she's safe." She squeezed his shoulder and he leaned into her just a little bit more, searching for comfort.

"She's safe, my pumpkin is safe." He whispered it, trying to convince himself of the words and rejoicing in them at the same time. He looked at her, eyes pleading. But pleading for what? She wasn't sure. She'd never seen that look before, not in his eyes at least. And she'd seen hundreds of expressions on his face. It came with being the expressive man he was. And usually she knew what exactly they all meant. He thought he could read her well, and if she was honest he could. But what he didn't realize was that she could read him just as well as he was able to read her. The tears were finally spilling over, a few escaping and creating a shimmering trail down his cheeks. She could see the need for comfort in his eyes, and so she gave him what he wanted.

She used her hand already on his shoulder to pull him towards her while her other wrapped around his waist, effectively trapping him within her arms. Her hair was growing damp as he cried but she didn't care. It was getting late and she had work in the morning but she didn't push him away and stand. This was Richard Castle, notorious playboy and wiseass, but she simply didn't remind herself of that. She wasn't even sure that was the real him, the Castle who showed up at the precinct every day was a different man than the one in the magazines. But then again, she wasn't sure about that either. All she knew was that he'd been there for her so many times, offering her the comfort she'd needed and the words she'd so desperately wanted to hear at all the right moments. Now it was her turn, her time to be there for him. After all he'd done for her, he deserved at least this.

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**I really hope that you enjoyed this and that this is what you had in mind when you suggested it, Teresa. I had a blast writing it! **

**Leave a review? It would make my day. Maybe even my week. And don't you want to be the one to brighten my whole entire week? **

**And don't forget! If you have an idea, even the simplest of ideas, PM me. **


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